Rodney Atkins Responds to Domestic Assault Claims

Rodney Atkins has responded to reports he was arrested and charged with domestic assault of his wife, Tammy Atkins, last month at their Tennessee home. According to court documents, his wife claimed he attempted to smother her with a pillow and he grabbed her by the face to throw her down the hallway after a long, verbal argument. Atkins’ attorney, Rose Palermo, acknowledged an argument took place, but refuted Tammy Atkins’ account of what happened:

This was an unfortunate verbal dispute between Mr. and Mrs. Atkins within hearing range of their child, and when Mr. Atkins realized their child was in hearing range of the argument his first priority became getting out of the earshot of the child, and that is when Mrs. Atkins called the Police and gave them her version of the argument, which is completely untrue. Mr. Atkins realized that he would have no recourse but to file a complaint for divorce. Since filing the complaint for divorce he has exercised substantial parenting time with the parties’ son and he will continue to do so while the divorce is pending. The criminal complaint does not allege that any harm came to the child or Mrs. Atkins and as a result the Court has not prohibited Mr. Atkins from having parenting time with his son. Under Tennessee state law, anyone can swear out a warrant to the police and have a warrant issued to an arrest. Obviously that is the case here, since according to the explicit terms of the warrant, it’s entirely based on the word of Mrs. Atkins. The police did not witness any assault because none occurred. The police did not witness any violence between Mr. and Mrs. Atkins. It is entirely based on her word.

Mr. Atkins plans to spend significant time with his child over the Christmas holidays and respectfully requests privacy at this time. Mr. Atkins wants to thank his fans for standing by him as he is confident the truth will prevail.

According to TMZ, Tammy Atkins also told police her husband was intoxicated, and their 10-year-old son, Elijah, witnessed the entire episode. After his arrest, Atkins was released on $2,500 bail.

Rodney and Tammy Atkins have been married for 13 years. Elijah is the only child they have together, though Tammy Atkins also has two daughters from a previous relationship.